Surviving

Well, I really should be doing homework, but I'll get to that later I guess. Not much has happened lately with me, but I thought I would make just a quick post. Last week we all had the flu, and it was bad. First Nathan brought it home. Two nights later Chad and Landon had it. The next day Fran and Tanner had it. Then the next night I finally got it. It didn't last very long but it was so horrible. Chad was up with me most of the night because I didn't want to be by myself. (I am such a wuss!...and he is such a good big brother.) I missed school the next two days, but eventually I decided I was going to live. Haha. I think I lost at least 5 pounds, but oh well. The rest of the week was just really long and a little rough at work, but again, I survived. Last night I went to the temple and did baptisms with my branch. It was just what I needed. I love being inside the temple. I forgot my worries and stresses and really felt good for helping these spirits come into the gospel. When I was walking to my car I couldn't stop smiling. I probably didn't smile all week, so it felt really good. Now today I need to buckle down and finish a big assignment. Hopefully it won't take me all day. I have 3 weeks left of clinical and I am counting down the days. I have learned a lot, but I have a 15 page paper and a presentation due at the end that I'm not looking forward to. I really can't wait until my life is NOT consumed by homework. That will be amazing. But in the meantime I am surviving!

Friends Are Great

This weekend I had a 3 day weekend so I decided to take a much needed trip to Pocatello to see my good friend Amy. It was a very short trip and I wish I had time to see other people there too, but I was also trying to do a little homework and ran out of time, so maybe next time. I drove home to Burley Friday night, and then went to Pocatello Saturday. I had to stop at the mall for a few minutes, so it was 5:00 when I got to her house. I wish I would have been more on top of it and gotten there earlier, but we had fun anyway. Nothing too exciting happened, but we had fun. We just talked and caught up for awhile when I got there, she listened to me vent about life, very patiently I might add, then we went and ate at KFC. When we got home we mostly just talked some more, while watching some videos. We watched some Ryanhood, (a band we like) and watched some Psych. Amy is the one who introduced me to Psych, so I thank her for that! We ended up talking until 3 in the morning. I left Sunday morning and drove back to Burley and went to Church with my mom. During Relief Society we talked about people's talents that have touched our lives. The whole time I was thinking of Amy (and my mother, but that's another topic), and how she just listened to everything I needed to talk about. She has a way of giving you advice while being on your side, and always make you feel better about things. She's a great listener, and a great friend. On top of all that, she's hilarious!

We met my freshman year of college at ISU, and then lived together for the next 3 years. We like a lot of the same things, and have had so many good times. She's always been there for me. She lived with me the year I was sick a lot and she visited me in the hospital, and listened to me complain. She was very diligent about calling when I had surgery to see how I was doing. I was always touched when she called. It was a sad day when I graduated and moved out and she bought her own house. She's one of the best friends I've ever had, so I just had to write about it! Thanks Amy for everything! Here's just some of the good time's we have had:

Amy's a crazy driver!

We robbed the bank!

I have been blessed with many great friends in my life, and I love them all. I am so thankful for wonderful people who bless my life with their talents!

Christmas has come and gone...

Well, Christmas Break came and went and I finally have a smidgen of time to blog about it. I was home for a week before Christmas, which was nice because I could help my mom get ready for company, do some last minute shopping, and even relax a tad bit. Christmas Eve and Day were both a little different because it was just my mom and I at home. On Christmas Eve we just relaxed, ate dinner (I believe we made pork chops), and watched a movie. Christmas morning I got to open my presents that "Santa" brought me, and my mom opened her gifts from me. I got spoiled, to say the least. Here is a picture of something I made my mom. I will admit I copied it, but I was still very proud and she was very suprised. She had pointed it out to me at a friends house more than a year ago and made me take pictures of it, which always pop up on my screen saver on my computer, so I decided I was going to make it. I was very pleased with how it turned out. It was super cheap to make and super easy too. I found the wood in our backyard in our wood pile, my brother in law Ron cut it to the right length for me, I stained it with some stain I found at our house, I bought about 3 or 4 sheets of paper at the scrapbook store with a little ribbon. I already had some of the paper, ribbon, and the buttons. I cut out the letters using my mom's Cricket Cutter (so fun by the way!) and there you have it. It has a little rope attached to it to hang it up that you can't see. And don't worry, I gave my mom another present, I wasn't going to spend less than $5 on her!

Later that day we got to talk on the phone to Kyler. He sounded so good, and I didn't really want to hang up. He is really doing well. Brock and Kris arrived at our house while we were talking so they got to say hi too. Later that afternoon Tysi and Ron came and we all had dinner. Chad arrived Sunday night and stayed till the next Saturday. Kelby came Wednesday and we all went skiing/snowboarding on Wedesday night at Pomerelle. Everyone except Halli, Landon, Porter, Taylee, Ian, and Tanner (who was sick) went. Grandma stayed home with the kids, which she loved.

On New Year's Eve (Thursday) we opened our gifts that we all exchange with each other (we rotate names every year), my mom gave her presents to everyone, and all the rest of my siblings gave my mom her gifts. It was so fun being with everyone and just hanging out.

Here are just some pics of everyone hanging out/opening presents.

Taylee and I had a blast. We played lots of barbies and princesses. It was kind of refreshing having a little girl around as opposed to boys running around talking about cars and super heros. I love my nephews, but I also loved showing her my old barbies (which are still in very good condition by the way), and showing her any princess things I had. My brothers always call me Jiller Willer, and she quickly caught on and started calling me that everytime she talked to me. She even started making up her own nicknames like JillyO, Jiller Willer piller, etc. It was pretty cute. ( She also LOVED her princess outfit from Grandma).

The little boys know that they always get two presents from Grandma, an outfit and a toy, but this year they just got an outfit. They were a little dissapointed and kept asking if they had another present. My mom had decided to buy a Wii instead of toys for all of them and give it to the grandkids to keep at our house and play when they come to visit. Boy were they surprised when she did pull out another present. They were sooo excited! (It was also suddenly very quiet when they were all downstairs playing the Wii instead of running around!)

Halli is growing so much and I just love her to death! I can't wait till she is older-another girl in the family has been so fun!

The boys in their shirts Grandma got them. I guess Kade and Tanner are too old for matching shirts now.

We went to take picture of Taylee and Ian and this is what they did. They are only 2 weeks apart, but usually fight, so this was so surprising (and cute) when this is what they did! They stood like that forevor letting everyone take their picture!

Kelsi and Jenna are my nieces, but also really good friends. We like to shop together, we like the same movies, and they even like to watch Psych with me! They make me laugh and are both so sweet!

Kyler requested we take some pictures of all us together since we would all be together for the first time in about a year and a half. It has been a really long time since have had a professional pic of all of us, but I guess these will have to do.

Porter and Landon are 4 months apart and are going to be great friends!

My wonderful family! I love them all so much and love being with them! They are all amazing and I am so blessed to have them in my life! (You can click on it to make it bigger.)

I love Christmas!!